What happens when one has a hip femoro-acetabular impingement due to an injury?

What an orthopedic surgeon and spinal neurosurgeon said about my symptoms....

I had a mighty fall in 2010 on icy polish concrete which caused a labral tear in my right hip, busted my menisci in my right knee and affected my right shoulder and neck and my low back. The internal injuries were not diagnosed until 11 months later, I was treated with physio without success. Finally the pressure on the right hand side of my body sustained for over a year and the pain forced me to change my walking gait. I developed a form of acute arthritis which wore the cartilage in my right MTP joint (big toe). I had bone against bone and it was excruciating. Within7 months I ended with 4 operations. In September 2011 I had repair of a large labrum tear and a large cyst that developed in the right hip joint and repair of menisci in the right knee. All done via arthroscopy.

By February 2012 the pain returned to my right hip, an x ray showed that I had a right hip femoro-acetabular impingement of the Cam type (ostephites/spurs on the head of the femur), the result of the initial injury. My MTP joint was affecting my ability to walk. Just last April 2012 I ended having 2 operations via arthroscopy to repair the right hip femoro-acetabular impingement and I also had a fusion of the MTP joint. I have a titanium plate and 7 screws in my right toe. I must say that the latter has been a success. The problem is that ever since last February, my left hip started to ache, just like the right one did when I had the tear. Granted that my left hip now has been carrying the brunt of the work for over 21 months. On examination the left hip appeared to have an impingement. I had an x ray of my left hip last week and voila` I have a double femoro-acetabular impingement now in the left hip of the cam and pincer type. I was advised by my surgeon that this is the result of the pressure that my left hip carried for so long.

What the orthopaedic surgeon advised: Needless to mention that my surgeon is concerned about the amount of surgery I had within 6 months. He is suggesting that I wait to see if the symptoms of impingement settle down now that my walk maybe going back to normal. My surgeon also said that he would not recommend to have any kind of surgery in my low back because surgery does not seem to repair pain in the low back in my situation. If not then I will have to go back to surgery to repair the impingement. I want to avoid the latter.

What the spinal neurosurgeon said: He looked at an MRI of my low back and said that although I had some degeneration in my lumbar spine, I was not going to become paraplegic. I thought...thank God! He sent me to have a scan but by then, having heard what my orthopedic surgeon said (about poor outcomes in back surgery) and having read Dr Sarno's books I knew that my low back symptoms are the result of TMS. So I let this one go.

My question for anyone knowing in the forum is: What happens in the case of my left hip having a double impingement? Is this also attributed to TMS? Because of the right hip operation, I feel a tad stiff (granted that this operation was done only a month ago). But now the left feels stiff too and I was told that I have bursitis on my left hip. I do Pilates and swimming 3 times a week to help my joint stability. Thank you everyone for your feedback.

 

Quasar, I can't comment on your particular injury but I can tell you that I have several structural injuries. The injuries are real and so was the pain. I believe that a TMS personality can make the situation much worse. After 20 years of constant pain at the site of a compressed vertebra I have been pain free for over 5 years following my TMS work. Unfortunately I am now having to do the work again for a new issue.

 

Many thanks for your prompt reply Chumba. I think you are right, we cannot argue against a real injury and the resulting structural and thus mechanical damage. And, I am inclined to agree with you too that the neurological impact of the fall, plus the injuries compounded creating a psychological algorithm of pain.

 

I have come across stories of people who recover from major injuries and others who really struggle, why the difference? I've seen a few 3 legged dogs and they always seem happy, they obviously don't get TMS

If you are looking for some inspiration I can thoroughly recommend a book by Andrew Weil called Spontaneous Healing.

 

Hi Quasar:

Seems like you've struggled with injuries for awhile. Sorry to hear that. Perhaps you should "casually"do the program, see what happens, and somehow try and balance the two. (injury vs TMS) I understand that one hip has been working over-time, but maybe just "let that go" and see where this journey leads you.

It's not an over night sensation, but an interesting journey that if traveled well, can bring great relief and understanding about yourself. But you do have an injury and I urge you to be careful. You are doing a balancing act at the moment. That can be a tough time to try and heal. One day at a time, etc. - and you'll learn more about you and more about your body as you go. You sound positive and ready. That's all you can ask of yourself.

Good luck!

BG

 

Hi again Chumba,

Many thanks for your reply and also for the suggestion about the book by Andrew Weil, Spontaneous Healing.I will certainly get it. All bits help, I am so thankful for this forum and all the kind people that have responded to my posts, you amongst them. Walking with others is an intrinsic part of this most marvelous journey of healing, despite the grueling work and the accompanying pain . Have a happy, refreshing and healing weekend!​

Quasar731

 

Thank you Beach-Girl for your encouraging words. You are right about the fact that I am walking a road that gets a tad complicated by an injury, surgery and the post op recovery in addition to the ravages of TMS. And you are also on the mark pointing at the reality that I have to balance these situations and in the process get to know myself, my body and discern what is TMS and what is just plain post of surgical and injury recovery. I am doing it and the surprises that I get are nothing short of amazing! Yes there is pain but it is balanced by the triumphs when I feel and witness physically the process of pain disappearing just by debating with my my mind on the basis of acquired knowledge. Slowly I am beginning to identify what is pain from injury and surgery and what is pain from avoiding issues.

Last night I had a harrowing painful experience at an unearthly hour. Just before I went to sleep I was doing the program and unearthing some powerful experiences from my past. Boy! didn't they caught up with me at 02:00am Thank God for my darling husband ( a saint) who is walking with me gently on this journey. I will put the last night story in a post because what I experienced may help others. It was an extraordinary experience, a triumph in the TMS inner debate.
Have a wonderful refreshing and healing weekend!

 

This is awesome. Sorry about whatever happened in the middle of the night. Nice to have someone there to share it with, my husband sleeps through whatever is going on. But when he's awake, he's very kind.

BG

 

Possibly a little late for this post. But i was diagnosed with FAI and a laberal tear in each hip. This kept me away from sports for at least a year. As soon as I linked my joint pains to TMS i got back into my sports and am feeling way less pain then what i did last year.